“Anything that weakens the UK also weakens Europe, and
weakens NATO,” he told the Financial Times.

David Cameron’s Conservative Party, which has had a close
relationship with many eastern European governments since 2010,
has pledged to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership in
2017.

By contrast, Ed Miliband’s opposition Labour Party says it will
not hold such a referendum if it wins May’s general election.

Labour is generally perceived by conservative factions of the EU
as less hawkish, and therefore less reliable on defense matters.
Particular concern has surfaced regarding the prospect of Labour
forming a coalition with the Scottish National Party (SNP), which
has made clear its intentions to scrap Britain’s nuclear
deterrent Trident.

The prospect of a Brexit has also roused concern in the EU’s
leftist factions, with France’s ruling socialists opposing a UK
exit.

Laurent Fabius, foreign minister of France, said a Brexit would
hold negative consequences for Britain and Europe.

“There are things to reform, simplifications, of course, but
there cannot be cherry picking. If you join a soccer club, you
cannot play rugby half way through,” he told the Financial
Times.

Relations with a number of the UK’s key eastern European allies
began to fray after the Conservative Party gained power in 2010,
as Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic became increasingly
irked by the rise of euroskepticism in Britain and its
implications for the free movement of citizens across the EU.

However, relations have thawed somewhat since the Ukraine crisis
began in 2014. In a bid to apply pressure to the Russian
government, Britain, Poland, Sweden and the Baltic states have
formed a hardline bloc and imposed sanctions on Moscow. Their
actions in this regard have been perceived as more aggressive
than those of more cautious states such as France and Italy.

In recent times, Cameron has supported eastern European calls for
further pressure to be applied on Moscow. But as the general
election countdown continues, hawks throughout the EU fear
Britain’s domestic political pursuits could jeopardize its
efforts to neutralize the perceived threat emanating from Russia.

Doubt has emerged whether a new British prime minister, burdened
with power-sharing pressures and internal party tensions, will
invite big concessions from EU leaders for fear they could be
confronted by further demands.

Eurocrats also reportedly fear tense, drawn out EU renegotiation
with Britain could divert attention from urgent issues such as
the Mediterranean migrant crisis and Greece’s standoff with EU
and international creditors.

The prospect of a British government led by Labour’s Ed Miliband,
who has pledged further immigration controls, is viewed
ambiguously by EU leaders who consider the free movement of
citizens to be a founding principle of the bloc.

Analysts suggest the next British government can expect a
confrontation with Brussels irrespective of who is in the driving
seat.

An Election Compass UK poll, published on Sunday, revealed a mere
22.4 percent of UK citizens support Britain leaving the EU. While
43.6 percent of those polled said they back an EU membership
referendum, the vast majority said they did not support a Brexit.

Britain’s general election race is also being closely watched by
politicians in Dublin, some of whom warn a Tory victory could
prove disastrous for the Irish economy.

They argue a UK exit from the EU would rattle Ireland’s economy,
which currently benefits from a £730m (€1bn ) trade relationship
with Britain that supports 400,000 jobs.

London-Dublin has morphed into the busiest international air
route across the globe, with Ireland ranked as a bigger
destination for UK exports than India, Brazil, China and Russia
combined.

A mere 12 percent of exports generated by US multinationals
headquartered in Ireland head to Britain. As a result, firms such
as Apple, Intel, Google and Facebook would cope if Britain left
the EU. By contrast, Ireland’s small and medium-sized enterprise
sector – as distinct from tax-avoiding multinationals such as
Google – export 43 percent of their goods to Britain.

In a bid to prepare for
all eventualities, Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny has
founded a special government unit to formulate contingency
measures.